ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir on Tuesday endorsed the governmentâ€™s decision to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, believed to be a leap forward in boosting trade ties with the neighbouring country.

The Kashmir Committee, headed by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, stamped this decision in its meeting held at the Parliament House, where Ministry of Commerce (MoC) gave detailed briefing about the status granted to India.

Following the meeting of the committee, Fazl told reporters that the committee expressed satisfaction over the briefing by the ministry, assuring the committee that this facility would not have any adverse affect on the principled stand of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

Apart from the MoC, Fazl said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also extended the assurance that the Kashmir issue would be on the top of the agenda during the composite dialogue with India.

According to Fazl, the Foreign Affairs Ministry also told the committee that Kashmir cause was very dear to Pakistan and it was sensitised about the feelings of the Kashmiris and would not go for any cooperation with India that would hurt their sentiments.

â€œIf Kashmir cause is believed to be impacting from the cooperation in other sectors with India, then Pakistan would give priority to Kashmir issue rather than going for cooperation in other sectorsâ€, Fazl said, quoting the officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

During the meeting, MoCâ€™s representatives, including Federal Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and the commerce secretary told the meeting that giving the MFN status to India was the continuation of the agreements which were broken due to 1965 war with India because being the member of WTO, both are bound to give each other the same treatment in the trade relations.

They pointed out that from 1948 to 1965, Pakistan and India treated each other equally in the trade relations and no one objected to it until 1965 when the process halted due to war between the two countries.

In view of bilateral trade between the two parts of the Kashmir and requirements of WTO, it is necessary to give the MFN status to India, which has already granted the same to Pakistan in the past, it said.